Three Ways a Warrenton Car Accident Lawyer Can Help You

Help for Returning Soldiers Hurt in Virginia Car Accidents

When the Insurer Can Be Just Plain Difficult after a Virginia Crash

Reduce the Odds of a Virginia Car Accident for Your Teen

TBI Caused by a Virginia Car Accident: What You Should Know

When a Culpeper Car Accident Leads to Head Trauma

Marijuana May Double the Risk of a Virginia Car Accident

Keeping Your Head Cool After a Virginia Car Crash

Your Virginia Car Accident Case Won’t Fly if You Can’t Prove Fault

Are You Fighting To Keep Your Eyes Open?

Pain and Suffering After a Virginia Car Crash Can Be Compensated

The Cost of Freedom: When Grandma’s Driving Causes Virginia Car Wrecks

What You Never Knew About Virginia Tech’s Road Safety Research Center

Paralysis: One Dreaded Outcome of a Virginia Car Crash

How do you deal with contributory negligence in Virginia?

Do Virginia parents know how to protect their children during a crash?

Virginia Pregnant Women: Buckle Up!

Virginia Motorists: Check Your Tires!

Edifying Statistics: Fatal Auto Accidents in Virginia

Do red light cameras really reduce Virginia auto accident rates?

Red light cameras certainly are a hot topic in Virginia cities.  Law enforcement officers and administrators love them, because they bring in revenue and provide automated enforcement of traffic laws.  Citizens and privacy rights groups, on the other hand, usually don’t like them, seeing them as intrusive and prone to error.  Some also believe that by pressuring drivers into stopping at red lights, more rear end crashes are caused.

The question that everyone asks is – do red light cameras actually reduce crashes?  According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), they do.

A study of red light cameras in 14 large U.S. cities revealed that many deaths were likely avoided between 2004 and 2008.  How did they determine this, and what else did they find?

• The study examined 99 cities with populations over 200,000 to compare fatal accident rates from those with red light cameras to those without.
• The rate of fatal accidents at red light camera intersections were compared from 2004-2008 to accident rates in 1992-1996 when there were no cameras.  Cities that had cameras in both time periods were excluded from the study.
• In 14 cities that had met the above requirements, fatal red light running accidents went down by 35 percent.
• In 48 cities with no red light cameras during either time period, fatal red light running accidents went down 14 percent.

Regardless of how people in Culpeper and Warrenton feel, red light cameras are probably here to stay.  If they do reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths at busy intersections, then they may be something we all have to get used to.

How to help your attorney WIN your Virginia car accident case

If you’ve gone to the trouble of hiring an attorney after being hurt in a Culpeper or Warrenton car wreck, you probably want to do everything you can to keep your case moving forward.  Above all, you want to feel like you did everything possible to WIN your case, and get the justice and compensation you deserve.

Here are some tips for Virginia auto accident victims looking to get the most from their case:

• Keep in touch with your lawyer, and keep him or her up-to-date on your medical condition or any contact you may have with anyone involved in the case.
• Follow your attorney’s advice.  This may seem obvious, but clients sometimes unwittingly ruin their own cases by failing to listen to what they are told to do (or not do!)
• Don’t sign ANYTHING without first asking your attorney.  Even the most simple looking form could be the insurance company’s way to trick you.
• Follow your doctor’s orders, because if you don’t the insurance company could blame YOU for your failure to improve.  And, see your doctor regularly to follow up on injuries from the accident – you want everything you’re going through to be documented.

It may help for you to view your attorney as a partner – you are both working together to secure that compensation you need to get on with your life after a tragic car crash.

Happy Holidays! Just remember these Five Safe Driving Tips

For many in the Culpeper and Warrenton area, the holidays are a wonderful time of year, full of merriment, family and celebration.  However, it is also a time to exercise extra caution on the road.  Because the time period that includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s always results in more accidents, injuries and fatalities than other times of the year it is important to remain vigilant while enjoying the holidays.

Our five holiday driving tips for Virginia residents:

1. Plan ahead – map out your route and allow for extra time to get to your destination – and time for breaks.  You don’t want to be stressed out and distracted because you are lost or late.
2. Make sure everyone in the vehicle is wearing a seat belt, even your second cousin in the back seat who claims she never wears seat belts.  Seat belts save lives – and save your back seat passengers from becoming a projectile in a crash.
3. Don’t tailgate.  This is an easy rule to let slide, especially on long, boring highway trips.  You must make sure that no matter what you maintain one car length for every ten miles per hour between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you.
4. Don’t exceed the posted speed limit, and slow down if weather conditions or traffic worsen.  It can be tempting to speed on long trips to make time pass by faster, but don’t – speed only makes car wrecks that much worse.
5. Service your car ahead of time, and plan for breakdowns by packing a spare tire, lug wrench, jack, emergency kit, flares, blankets for cold weather.

For more information about safe driving, what to do after an accident, and other tips, please visit our online Virginia auto accident library.

Injured? Consider the high cost of Virginia auto accidents

If you or someone you love was hurt in a serious Virginia car wreck in the Culpeper or Warrenton area, you already know about the pain and suffering an accident can cause.  What you may only just be coming to realize is the high economic cost of a traffic crash.

The average hospital stay for an injured Virginia crash victim costs over $30,000 – and that is just the average cost for one person. If more people are hurt – or if the stay is longer – the cost just gets higher.  The $30,000 also does not include any follow-up costs, rehabilitation, or additional surgeries or treatments that may be necessary.  As you can see, a car crash can get expensive – fast.

If you also take into account other economic costs, like the cost of the emergency responders (fire, rescue, EMS), police, ambulance fees, lost productivity from people hurt and unable to work – the price of a crash goes even higher.

Consider these statistics from the Virginia Highway Safety Office.  In one year, the economic cost of all traffic fatalities tops 1,000 million dollars.  Injury cases in a year cost the state over $1,870 million, and property damage adds up to about $710 million.  Overall, the annual motor vehicle crash cost for Virginia can top $3,650 million.

Once you understand the high costs of auto accidents in Virginia, you see how important it is that you only accept a fair settlement from the insurance company.  If you accept a low offer – you could be stuck paying for costs you didn’t even think about down the road.

Culpeper Police focusing on pedestrian and cyclist safety

Did you notice the extra Culpeper police out on the jot during Virginia’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Week?  Local police made an extra effort to educate both pedestrians and motorists about the importance of crosswalks.

Three pedestrians have died since 2006 in Culpeper after being struck while crossing the road.  One woman was hit in a crosswalk and two men were hit while crossing the street outside of a crosswalk.  There have also been a number of near-misses at key Culpeper intersections.

Troublesome areas for pedestrians and dangerous drivers in Culpeper include the area around the Post Office, the intersection of Main and Davis streets, and the intersection of Main Street and Sperryville Pike.

• Motorists: Remember that you MUST stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk.  Failure to do so can be punished with a $200 civil fine.  Please also remember that when you are turning on a red light, pedestrians have the right of way.

• Pedestrians: Remember that you MUST cross roads at intersections or designated crosswalks.  This is not only for your own safety, but also to give motorists enough time to stop if you are in the road.  If you walk at night, you should also consider wearing reflective clothing or blinking lights.

Pedestrians and motorists both have the responsibility to act responsibility to keep each other safe.  If you or someone you love is hurt in an accident involving a pedestrian, please talk with a skilled attorney like one from Dulaney, Lauer, & Thomas.  We’ll make sure we investigate the facts in your case and get you the compensation you deserve.

How (Un)safe are Culpeper County Intersections?

If you live in Culpeper County or spend much time driving our back roads, you know that there are a number of “challenging” intersections and roads.  Some roads twist and turn as they lead up to an intersection, leaving drivers unprepared to stop as expected, and in other cases signs and lights aren’t enough to warn drivers of the hazards they face.

Poorly designed or maintained roads and intersections can be contributing factors in car crashes.  If signs are not installed correctly or if they are obscured by trees or bushes, or if road paint is missing, or if a road speed is too fast for the curve, accidents can result.

The Culpeper Star Exponent highlighted some “tricky” county intersections in a recent article.  These included:

·         Gibson Mall at U.S. 522, where a Culpeper resident recently lost his life after a T-bone crash.

·         Norman Road at U.S. 522, with a stop sign that seems to appear out of nowhere (a real challenge for drivers unfamiliar with the area).

·         Little Fork Church Road at Route 229, a stop sign hidden by trees and a poorly marked intersection combine to confuse drivers who may be unaware they’re about to enter a major highway.

If you suspect that an unsafe road or unsafe signage may have contributed to your crash, do yourself a favor and get answers by talking with a skilled Culpeper car wreck lawyer today.